Labour’s Business Secretary has been reprimanded by the official statistic watchdogs for the second time in three months for citing a “factually incorrect” rise in Job Seekers Allowance claimants.

Mr Umunna had claimed that the number of young people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance nationally has increased by 60 per cent since May 2010, with the number in the Northeast increasing by 263 per cent.

In fact, Sir Andrew said, the published official statistics show that the number of young people claiming JSA in the UK fell in the period between May 2010 and May 2014 by 163,700 (38 per cent), and by 6,310 (27 per cent) in the North East.

Rob Wilson, the Conservative MP said: “Ed Miliband and Chuka Umunna have now both been rebuked by Sir Andrew Dilnot for their use of dodgy statistics- proving that Labour simply cannot be trusted.

He added: “We are ensuring a better and brighter future for Britain, all Labour want to do is try to divide the country for political gain."

Sir Andrew Dilnot, head of the UK Statistics Authority, has been in contact with Mr Umunna’s office to ensure the statistics in the article are corrected.

This has been changed and now reads that the number of young people claiming for JSA for 12 months or more has gone up by 60 per cent.

In June Sir Andrew wrote to Mr Umunna after he claimed there had been a huge increase in the number of people on zero-hours contracts to say it is not possible to identify an increase in the number such contracts from official figures.

Those claims came after a business survey identified 1.4 million zero-hours contracts. However, the UK Statistics Authority said that as the first of a new series of statistics, the survey could not be used to claim there had been an increase.

Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “Yet again we see the opposition misrepresenting facts . . . but they have been found out.”

A spokesman for Mr Umunna said: "“I’m surprised that the Tories want to shine such a spotlight on the fact that long-term youth unemployment in the North East has risen so much under their government.

"Perhaps rather than putting out press releases they should instead look at their own record of failure.”

This month Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, was forced to withdraw incorrect claims about percentage of jobs created in London from a keynote speech.

Ed Miliband had claimed ‘four out of five’ new jobs were been created in London. Sir Andrew said official statistics suggested the reverse was true and only 21.7 per cent private sector jobs had been created in London.